Updated: Friday, May 8, 2026

ANNAPOLIS, MD — Governor Wes Moore today continued his statewide “Delivering for Maryland” tour with a series of engagements in Washington County, highlighting vital investments in local transportation infrastructure, manufacturing job growth, and early childhood education. The governor emphasized state contributions to modernize the Hagerstown Regional Airport, toured the state-of-the-art Hitachi Rail facility, and celebrated the opening of a new child care center in the South End of Hagerstown funded by the administration’s historic ENOUGH Initiative.

“From investing $1.5 million to update Hagerstown Regional Airport’s aging control tower to supporting 1,300 jobs at Hitachi Rail, the Moore-Miller administration is delivering for Hagerstown, Washington County, and Western Maryland,” said Gov. Moore. “Through our administration’s ENOUGH Initiative partnerships and investments, we’ve tripled child care capacity in the South End of Hagerstown — because no parents should be forced to pick between staying in the workforce or securing quality care for their kids.”

The governor began the day at the Hagerstown Regional Airport, touring the Air Traffic Control Tower and airport grounds. During the visit, Governor Moore highlighted the State’s $1.5 million Fiscal Year 2027 investment to complete the design for a critical replacement of the airport’s aging air traffic control facility. As a primary airport in the Maryland Aviation System Plan, the Hagerstown Regional Airport is a vital economic engine for Washington County, supporting more than 1,800 jobs and generating over $140 million in local business revenue.

Following the airport tour, Governor Moore visited the Hitachi Rail STS facility alongside Congresswoman April McClain Delaney, Senator Mike McKay, Senator Paul Corderman and state transportation leaders. The governor toured the factory floor and rode a test train to observe the manufacturing process. Opened in September 2025 with the support of a $1.6 million state conditional loan, the 307,000-square-foot, carbon-neutral facility is a $100 million capital investment by Hitachi. The factory supports 1,300 jobs — including 460 newly created jobs — and is actively manufacturing railcars for both the Maryland Transit Administration and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.

“Hitachi Rail has built a cutting-edge model for advanced manufacturing here in Western Maryland which is focused on delivering clean, safe, efficient regional transportation across our state and the rest of the country,” said Congresswoman April McClain Delaney. “This facility is powered by Maryland’s second-to-none workforce and world-class innovation environment. I’m proud to work with Governor Moore and our public, private, and philanthropic partners to drive global investment that supports jobs and economic growth along our I-270 Tech Corridor.”

Governor Moore concluded the day at the Children’s Learning and Empowerment Center in the South End of Hagerstown, where he met with parents, children, and community leaders. During the visit, the Governor highlighted the administration’s ENOUGH Initiative, which provided critical support for the center’s opening. The new facility is a major win for the community, tripling local childcare capacity with 24 new slots and generating six new early childhood education jobs.

The Children’s Learning and Empowerment Center’s opening was accelerated by a $100,000 investment from San Mar Family & Community Services, the ENOUGH grantee in Hagerstown. ENOUGH grant funding was also supplemented by a $100,000 philanthropic contribution from the Bainum Family Foundation — a member of the ENOUGH Alliance — to complete necessary facility upgrades. The center’s completion underscores the strength of the ENOUGH Initiative’s public-private partnerships to deliver on community priorities and work towards ending child poverty.

Governor Moore’s visit to Washington County follows the third stop of his “Delivering for Maryland” tour in Montgomery County, where he marked a historic milestone by installing the final segment of rail for the Purple Line. This installation completes the 16.2-mile light rail corridor connecting Bethesda and New Carrollton, with passenger service expected to begin in late 2027. The governor also visited Max’s Best Ice Cream in Bethesda, a local business dedicated to creating meaningful employment opportunities for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities through the Best Buddies Jobs program.

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A man charged with attacking the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner is seeking to disqualify top justice department officials from direct involvement in prosecuting him because they could be considered victims or witnesses in the case, creating a potential conflict of interest.

The acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, and US attorney Jeanine Pirro were attending the 25 April event at the Washington Hilton hotel when Cole Tomas Allen allegedly ran through a security checkpoint and fired a shotgun at a Secret Service officer.

In a court filing late on Thursday, Allen’s attorneys argued that it created at least the appearance of a conflict of interest for Blanche and Pirro to be making any prosecutorial decisions in the case.

“As this case proceeds closer to trial, the country and the world will continue to wonder – how can the American justice system permit a victim to prosecute a criminal defendant in a case involving them?” defense attorneys Eugene Ohm and Tezira Abe wrote.

Ohm and Abe, who are assistant federal public defenders, suggested that the appointment of a special prosecutor might be warranted. They urged US district judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump nominee assigned to Allen’s case, to disqualify Pirro, Blanche and possibly other justice department officials from direct involvement in the investigation and prosecution.

“Both heard gunshots, which presumably forced them to duck below the tables with the rest of the occupants. They were quickly evacuated. Shortly thereafter, they learned that law enforcement believed the target was certain administration officials,” Ohm and Abe wrote.

Pirro said her office would respond to the defense lawyers’ arguments in its own court filing.

“We will not tolerate people who come to the District of Columbia to engage in antidemocratic acts of political violence; and we will prosecute all such acts to the fullest extent of the law,” Pirro said in a statement.

Allen is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday on further charges in an indictment handed up Tuesday by a grand jury in Washington.

The charges include attempting to assassinate Donald Trump, who is a longtime friend of Pirro. Blanche served as a personal attorney for Trump before joining the justice department last year. Blanche, through a spokesperson, referred a request for comment to Pirro’s office. Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, is also charged with assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon and two additional firearms counts.

WOODINVILLE — For four straight years, at least parts of Washington have been in a drought, as snowpack has failed to meet historical norms amid climate change. 

This year, all of Washington is experiencing drought, after a wet winter scuttled by warmer temperatures, according to state officials.

Washington state leaders are looking for ways to deal with the ongoing water challenges, which state Ecology Director Casey Sixkiller calls “our new normal.” 

A new initiative, called Washington’s Water Future, will lead roundtable discussions across the state this summer, with recommendations delivered to Gov. Bob Ferguson before the 2027 legislative session begins in January. Local and tribal governments, utilities, industry leaders, environmental groups and community organizations will be at the table.

Officials announced the effort Wednesday at King County’s Brightwater Treatment Plant near Woodinville.

“It’s clear we need to take steps to protect our water supply,” Ferguson said in a pre-recorded video. “We need secure water supplies so we can grow our economy, support our agriculture industry, protect healthy fish runs and preserve tribal resources.”

Sixkiller said the work is about whether Washington will shape the future of water in the state, or just react to it. 

“Washington is a water state,” Sixkiller said. “Water shapes our landscapes, our communities, our economy, and for many a way of life passed down through generations. We all know that where there’s water, there’s life, but these days, we don’t have to look very hard to see that our relationship with water is changing.”

Climate change is causing precipitation in the winter to fall more as rain than snow, with less stored naturally in the mountains for the summer, when farms and fish are competing for the dwindling resource. This system, dependent on snowpack, is becoming less reliable, Sixkiller said.

By 2080, the Puget Sound region is expected to get less than half of its normal snowpack, with wintertime stream flows increasing by half and a corresponding drop in the summertime, the agency director said.

“The cost of inaction is already showing up in drought emergencies, flood damage, stressed salmon runs and uncertainty for communities trying to plan their future,” Sixkiller said.

Last year, the Department of Ecology took the unprecedented step to curtail surface water usage in the Yakima River Basin, where the effects of drought are more severe. The move has drawn accusations of mismanagement against the state. 

In an interview, Sixkiller said it’s too soon to say whether his agency will need to do the same this year, but noted the state declared a drought earlier than usual to give water managers in the area more time to prepare.

The statewide drought declaration last month unlocked $3 million in grants to respond to the effects.

The harms already

The Yakima-Tieton Irrigation District, which serves 28,000 acres, is bracing for its canal system to “blow out” after a wildfire burned it in 2024, and subsequent flooding and debris slides further damaged it, said Jon DeVaney, president of the Washington State Tree Fruit Association.

“This is a clear example of the need to, not only plan long term, but be prepared to see that hole that we’re already in get a little bit deeper,” DeVaney said.

The low flows and higher temperatures are treacherous for Washington’s salmon. And fish hatcheries are grappling with dwindling water. The Suquamish Tribe, for example, hasn’t been able to expand a hatchery because of the lack of water, Chairman Leonard Forsman said.

Forsman, also president of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, acknowledged the priorities when thinking about the future of water availability are “people and farms, and then fish habitat comes in later.”

“And we need to try to balance that,” he said. 

Meanwhile, data centers the tech sector is building to support artificial intelligence and other technologies are also driving demand for water.

Some of the ideas

In responding to the state’s water needs, Sixkiller said “all solutions and all ideas are on the table.”

He was responding to a question about desalination, a process turning salt water into potable water that communities in more arid climates have turned to in addressing water shortages. Arizona, for one, is pursuing the idea. Sixkiller called the water scarcity in the American southwest a “very big red flag of what could happen here.”

The city of Lynden in Whatcom County has grown rapidly over the past 15 years, Mayor Scott Korthuis said. So the city, located along the Nooksack River, has had to find innovative approaches to securing water.

For one, the city now recycles discharged water from the local Darigold dairy plant into the river, as a source of drinking water.

The city is also working on an aquifer recharge project to take water from the river during high flows and store it underground until it’s needed later. Sixkiller cited this type of work as an idea to be explored in the Washington’s Water Future roundtable discussions.

“There are a range of untapped solutions from different areas, from different ways to store water and to recycling,” Korthuis said, noting financial, legal and regulatory obstacles.

Aging water infrastructure that will need to be replaced or upgraded provides an opportunity for innovative solutions, Sixkiller said.

King County Councilmember Claudia Balducci noted the new initiative’s acronym matches that of the World Wrestling Federation, saying there will be some “smackdowns” in these discussions. The tongue-in-cheek comment worried state Rep. Davina Duerr, D-Bothell.

“I’m afraid it’ll be a smackdown on the Legislature for funding, and whatever else,” she said.

Washington State Standard is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.